US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heads to the Middle East next week for discussions on the peace process with Israeli and Palestinian officials, the State Department said Thursday, according to dpa. Rice will travel to the region on Wednesday, one day after the US presidential election, for meetings in Israel, the West Bank, Jordan and Egypt during the five-day trip, spokesman Sean McCormack said. Rice plans also to meet with her counterparts in the Quartet, a group of international mediators consisting of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and United States, while in the region, McCormack said.